Covid-19 miscellany

[Keith&Co.]

The essential nature of humor is that it's a defense mechanism. So humor is appropriate for any uncomfortable topic (at least hypothetically) and, humor requires a victim.

Grown-up humor requires an appropriate victim. Someone deserving. This is why the White-Faced Clown in most any comedy act is a pompous prat. It'snot funny to hit a little girl in a wheelchair with a bat, but hitting a banker with a cream pie is hilarious.

Humor does not require an actual victim, though.

Yes, it really does. If there is no attack, there's no defense, no way to interrupt the defense, which is the entire purpose of humor.

At any rate, it is not the case that people who choose not to vaccinate generally deserve to die of covid

I do not know how to tell who 'deserves' to die.
I do think someone with a treatable condition in a county with seven hospitals does NOT deserve to die because the ICUs are full to capacity of people who chose not to vaccinate AND did not take lesser appropriate steps to not be a plague monkey

- not that covid is even a punishment, but it would not be a deserved one.

Or a wholly predictable consequence.

 

[Angra Mainyu]

Yes, it really does. If there is no attack, there's no defense, no way to interrupt the defense, which is the entire purpose of humor.

No, that is not so. For example, there is plenty of humor - in movies, TV shows, etc. - with pretend victims, not actual ones.

I do not know how to tell who 'deserves' to die.

You do, because you are an adult human with no massive mental impairment.

We humans - and a few other apes - can and all the time do make moral assessments intuitively, including assessments of what others deserve. We do that on the basis of incomplete information as always, and our conscience/moral sense is fallible. But generally, we do these assessments properly. Some things like ideology/religion/anger, etc., can get in the way though, and lead to a mistaken assessment.

I do think someone with a treatable condition in a county with seven hospitals does NOT deserve to die because the ICUs are full to capacity of people who chose not to vaccinate AND did not take lesser appropriate steps to not be a plague monkey

Clearly, they do not deserve to die, as it is not okay to kill them in punishment for having a treatable condition!

Or a wholly predictable consequence.

Of not getting vaccinated?
Sure, it's more probable than they'll get sick when infected than vaccinated people. By my point is that it was not a punishment.

 

[ZiprHead]

Hell, which I don't believe exists.

Good, but do you believe they deserve to be punished in that manner? (even if no one can actually mete out the punishment).

Holy crap. It was a joke, and you want to turn it into a philosophical discussion!?! And a derail to boot.

 

[Keith&Co.]

Yes, it really does. If there is no attack, there's no defense, no way to interrupt the defense, which is the entire purpose of humor.

No, that is not so. For example, there is plenty of humor - in movies, TV shows, etc. - with pretend victims, not actual ones.

Oh, i misunderstood you.
Okay.
Still, these Covidiots are funny victims.

I do not know how to tell who 'deserves' to die.
You do, because you are an adult human with no massive mental impairment.

No, i really cannot.
I stood security guard for nuclear weapons for a long time, thinking about this. I can come up with scenarios where i can say with assurance who WILL die, but not sure if i can judge on 'deserve.'

We humans - and a few other apes - can and all the time do make moral assessments intuitively, including assessments of what others deserve.

And it's a moral choice, to me, to not claim i know who 'deserves' to die for the beliefs thry have swallowed by years of msnipulative assholes' dfforts.

We do that on the basis of incomplete information as always, and our conscience/moral sense is fallible. But generally, we do these assessments properly.

A number of cops shootings seem to argue against this conclusion.

Some things like ideology/religion/anger, etc., can get in the way though, and lead to a mistaken assessment.

Thus, i decided i was at the Entry Control Point to assess adherance to policy, not moral values. Hell, i pointed nuclear weapons at my own planet. How could i say anyone wishing to inflict violence on me was not morally correct?
I just hoped i'd never have to use any of my weapons.

Clearly, they do not deserve to die, as it is not okay to kill them in punishment for having a treatable condition!

Where does 'punishment' keep coming from?
We're all just facing the consequences of covidiot choices.

Or a wholly predictable consequence.

Of not getting vaccinated?

Not getting vaccinated AND not masking AND not staying home if they're sick. And if they went on TV and counseled others to disregard the plague, it's funnier. And of they had a temper tantrum on the editorial page, or at the statehouse, or on Joe Rogan's show, or at the pulpit, funnier still...

Sure, it's more probable than they'll get sick when infected than vaccinated people. By my point is that it was not a punishment.

Never said it was a punishment.
Not sure why this is a point you're making.

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

Or a wholly predictable consequence.

Of not getting vaccinated?
Sure, it's more probable than they'll get sick when infected than vaccinated people. By my point is that it was not a punishment.

Correct, the medical staff are the ones being punished.

 

[crazyfingers]

Omicron is 73% of new cases in the US.

Omicron is now the dominant strain of coronavirus in the US, according to the CDC

The Omicron Covid-19 variant is now the most dominant strain in the US, accounting for over 73% of new coronavirus cases less than three weeks after the first was reported, according to estimates posted Monday by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

www.cnn.com

Omicron sweeps across nation, now 73 percent of US COVID-19 cases

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention numbers showed nearly a six-fold increase in omicron's share of infections in only one week.

www.boston.com

 

[Derec]

The FOX audience has long had an average age of over 60. With how likely most of them have not been vaccinated, I wonder how much of their audience they have lost during all of this.

People 65 and up have been vaccinated at 87%. Fox News audience probably less than average for the age group, but still, older Americans have been the most vaccinated group.

 

[Derec]

Omicron is 73% of new cases in the US.

It also says 95% in the Southeast. Since we in SE have relatively low rates right now, that means that our cases might explode soon. Good thing I just got my booster.

Btw, Atlanta area is at ~20 per 100,000 per day. Let's see what it is in a week.
On that note, San Diego (and California in general) may in a spot of bother.
UCSD Reports ‘Unprecedented' Spike in San Diego Wastewater COVID Viral Load

 

[Derec]

Jamaal Bowman: Democrat calls for Congress to pass another Covid relief package - CNNPolitics
It may be hard to get that past the likes of Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema.

No kidding. Bowman's only idea is to spend more money and allow deadbeats not to pay rent.
I do not see how either will be helpful at this point, unless we are at a point where businesses will again close for weeks or longer and more payments to Americans are needed. I do not see that happening, however.
Student loan cancellation is on the wish list of Democrats (AOC desperately wants taxpayers to pay off her $17k in student loans despite her top ~2% Congressional salary) but really has nothing to do with Covid.

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

Omicron is 73% of new cases in the US.

It also says 95% in the Southeast. Since we in SE have relatively low rates right now, that means that our cases might explode soon. Good thing I just got my booster.

Btw, Atlanta area is at ~20 per 100,000 per day. Let's see what it is in a week.
On that note, San Diego (and California in general) may in a spot of bother.
UCSD Reports ‘Unprecedented' Spike in San Diego Wastewater COVID Viral Load

The virus is already everywhere. That is what the signs are telling us. It doesn't seem as bad as Delta's impact health wise, but with a doubling rate of 2.5ish, it might be able to overcome that in mere volume, the Walmart of coronaviruses.

Also, just because you have a booster, doesn't provide immunity. This bug is different, be safe.

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

Jebus!

As Omicron looms Down Under, Prime Minister Scott Morrison says "we've got to treat Australians as adults" and "get past the heavy hand of government" in the context of rising coronavirus cases.

"We have to move from a culture of mandates to a culture of responsibility," he told reporters on Tuesday. "That’s how we live with this virus into the future.“

We need to stop what is working and do something stupid instead!

 

[Elixir]

I give it to AM that not everyone who fails to get vaccinated and then contracts COVID totally deserves to die.
They just deserve to die more than those they infect deserve to die. On average, of course.

 

[Jarhyn]

I give it to AM that not everyone who fails to get vaccinated and then contracts COVID totally deserves to die.
They just deserve to die more than those they infect deserve to die. On average, of course.

Neither deserves to die. Both deserve to live and learn and love!

It's a tragedy, pure and simple, insofar that some will not. That a failure to learn will produce an inability to live, and not only impacting themselves.

 

[TomC]

Neither deserves to die. Both deserve to live and learn and love!

It's a tragedy, pure and simple, insofar that some will not. That a failure to learn will produce an inability to live, and not only impacting themselves.

The Schadenfreude I referred to upthread isn't really about just any unvaccinated person who suffers, or even dies. It's almost entirely about people who encouraged irresponsible behavior in the media, for personal gain. Feeding their audience the rubbish that the audience wanted to hear, in order to maintain their ratings or something.
Those are the ones I can't help but smiling at their distress. It's a guilty pleasure, but they've caused huge amounts of damage with their self-serving bullshit. F. U.
Tom

 

[Jarhyn]

Neither deserves to die. Both deserve to live and learn and love!

It's a tragedy, pure and simple, insofar that some will not. That a failure to learn will produce an inability to live, and not only impacting themselves.

The Schadenfreude I referred to upthread isn't really about just any unvaccinated person who suffers, or even dies. It's almost entirely about people who encouraged irresponsible behavior in the media, for personal gain. Feeding their audience the rubbish that the audience wanted to hear, in order to maintain their ratings or something.
Those are the ones I can't help but smiling at their distress. It's a guilty pleasure, but they've caused huge amounts of damage with their self-serving bullshit. F. U.
Tom

I can't help but feel a massive wave of relief when someone is no longer a problem to humanity, when bad behavior ends.

Sometimes even joy, overwhelming.

I felt that joy overwhelming when Rush Limbaugh kicked it.

This is shaudenfreude in a nutshell.

The tragedy comes from the fact it is progress over their corpse, rather than progress walking together along the road.

 

[Elixir]

Ya sure, Kumbaya for all is the most desired outcome.
Meanwhile, back here IRL many of us have been trying really hard to do the right thing for the greater good, instead of pretending our free-dum is at stake. There's a pandemic and there are safe and effective vaccines. There's also, as Tom aptly puts it, people who encouraged irresponsible behavior in the media for personal gain, feeding their audience the rubbish that the audience wanted to hear, in order to maintain their ratings. At the bottom of that festering social cesspool are the people who are eager to lap up what they wish was true - including everything their Trump told them 20 months ago about COVID being a democrat hoax. That stuff was so good that the trumpsuckers are clinging to it still today, despite that even Trump is (halfheartedly) endorsing vaccination and even getting booed for telling that he got a booster shot. Trump gave them permission to create their own "realities", and now they're doing so - irresponsibly, selfishly and with great joy in "owning the libs". The chickens have come home to roost, and now even Trump can't control the realities that people have chosen to create for themselves. Insanity is the new normal for the conspiracy-soaked, anti-science right wing.
I'm not particularly proud of having been reduced to this level of callous disregard for 'human' life, but -
IF THEY ALL DIED OF COVID TOMORROW I WOULD CELEBRATE.
And the whole world would be better off. But yeah, for sure, everyone getting along would be the best thing...

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

Ya sure, Kumbaya for all is the most desired outcome.
Meanwhile, back here IRL many of us have been trying really hard to do the right thing for the greater good, instead of pretending our free-dum is at stake. There's a pandemic and there are safe and effective vaccines. There's also, as Tom aptly puts it, people who encouraged irresponsible behavior in the media for personal gain, feeding their audience the rubbish that the audience wanted to hear, in order to maintain their ratings.

Yeah, the vaccinated Fox News personalities that are muddying the waters regarding vaccinations. They same assholes texting Mark Meadows to get Trump to stop the rioting... and then pretending it was Antifa that evening.

There aren't enough buses to broadside that bunch.

 

[TomC]

Meanwhile, back here IRL many of us have been trying really hard to do the right thing for the greater good, instead of pretending our free-dum is at stake.

Exactly.

Back here in the real world, my siblings and I are trying to arrange my mother's funeral. Most of the family is reasonably sensible. But not everyone.

One sister's husband is much older than her. He's got tons of health issues, so much so that he can't even get vaccinated. She is terrified of bringing an infection home to him. She's also a bigwig in hospital management, she's seen up close how much damage this crap can do.

Other close relatives are Trumpy sorts, who "don't believe in all that". They also expect to be included in everything the rest of the family does.

Believe me, the damage done by antivaxxer crap is causing huge damage to my family right now. Revolving around my mother's funeral. Thinking "That bitch had better not show up" about a sibling is a horrible feeling, but I'm feeling it right now.

Thanks Trump.

Tom

ETA ~WE COULD HAVE BEEN PAST ALL THIS MONTHS AGO IF EVERYONE WERE RESPONSIBLE!~

 

[Keith&Co.]

The chickens have come home to roost, and now even Trump can't control the realities that people have chosen to create for themselves.

Or, as a former Trumpsucker once said:

stop making excuses for him. this isnt some 5d chess. i think they forced him to take the first vaxx and it changed his dna and now he's different.

So, yeah. He told them their fantasies of persecution and isolation were valid, and they're now self-insulating.

 

[jab]

I give it to AM that not everyone who fails to get vaccinated and then contracts COVID totally deserves to die.
They just deserve to die more than those they infect deserve to die. On average, of course.

Neither deserves to die. Both deserve to live and learn and love!

It's a tragedy, pure and simple, insofar that some will not. That a failure to learn will produce an inability to live, and not only impacting themselves.

Tragedy is never pure and rarely simple. The ill and dieing Covid deniers of various stripes and practices are in themselves and in their story arcs, self-satire,.
The "don't punish them, how dare you" trope is like saying the someone who eats detergent pods doesn't deserve to be punished by getting sick, or that it's somehow unseemly to point out pointedly that their actions had predictable unpleasant consequences.